There is a disturbing case out of Mount Vernon, Ohio where Dale Cline, 18, put a noose around the neck of a hispanic boy, Robert Cantu,17, and dragged him in a parking lot while screaming racial taunts. He was sentenced as a juvenile and given just 10 days.
The teenager was allowed to plead no contest to ethnic intimidation
and the prosecutors dropped the charge of fifth degree aggravated menacing.
Cantu said that the boy and his friends said that they were gong to lynch him until a stranger intervened.
His family says it plans to sue the city for good reason. It is not clear why the charges in the case were so low and then pleaded out to such a meaningless penalty. This is an 18-year-old not some toddler. Anyone who would commit such an act is an obviously unbalanced individual and a danger to society.
No charges appear to have been brought against the other participating teenagers.
The city’s website proclaims “[i]n 1965 Look Magazine named Mount Vernon an ” All American City” and the city maintains the standards that resulted in this acclaim. In 1994 Mount Vernon was named “Ohio’s Most Livable Community” by Ohio Magazine.”
We live in Fredericktown Ohio which is 12 miles from Mt. Vernon.My Brother is a tetra-plegic,meaning he has limited use of his arms and hands.He was in a car crash coming home from work. From that after a battle with Knox county my Brother was awarded a settlement and paid cash for a home and a handi-cap accesible van.he has short term memory loss from a brain injury stemming from that crash also. He was still capable of living a happy life as we were told everything as before only in a wheelchair. Since 2005 my Brother has been manipulated by some people here and has lost his trustfund now the courts has been petioned to sell his home. he was taken from his home september 24 to columbus ohio and has been in critical condition there ever since on a ventilator. He lost a leg from bedsores and infection.They told us yesterday he will be going to a long term facility. I have spoken with the powers that be here and was told this was not a crime, that it is a civil matter.These people took my little Brother’s life from him again and no remorse whatsoever. Thank you for listening,Our Familys heart goes out to Mr. Cantu’s Family. The longer I live in this county the more I want out of such a hateful place.
and i did some research this is not the first time this boy has been attacked in that city http://blog.votolatino.org/2009/06/23/no.aspx warning this things that is shown on the video is bad!!!!!!
People who are not from ohio let me fill you in on something you might not know. Ohio has a Bindover law, Which when i juvenile 15 and over commits really bad act they can be sent to adult court. In additon to bindover, We also have something called the Blended sentence or SYO (serious youthful offender) law which a juvenile can get a sentence at a juvenile and his time can be carried over to his adult hood. example in this case the now 18 year old could be get one year as a juvenile with adult time attached and held. then while he is on probation if he violates he is then sent to adult jail to finish his time. the ideal is that a syo can be offered juvenile help while facing adult time if he doesnt comply. so i write all that to say the prosocuter was right when he said it sends a message. because there was quite a few things that could have been done. likewise i dont promote any type of hate crime but a group of black teens broke into a rich white home in akron ohio’s firestone park area and while they attacked the white family they called them crackers and honkies and they are planning to charge these boys as adults with a hate crime attachment. so i say in ohio justice is black and white! (think about it )
Seems to me the obvious question here is what the sentence would have been had the tables been turned with the Hispanic boy dragging the white kid around while taunting him.
When one sees how in certain cases the Prosecution grandstands with calls to have 14 year old’s (or younger) dealt with as adults, one can only be left with the feeling that this case wasn’t taken seriously, or perhaps a sub-rosa message was being sent to the Latino community. This punk seemed to have been aided and abetted, but no other charges were filed. Even if there was no intent to really hang the kid the acts were
recklessly dangerous and criminally frightening.
Caryl Chessman, admittedly a rapist, was given the death penalty as a kidnapper under the Lindbergh Law, for dragging his victim about 15 feet to his car to rape her. We will never have a viable system of justice in this country until we have uniform standards of enforcement. Who knows when, if ever, that will happen? Makes what JT, the ACLU, Innocence Project, etc. do, vital to our legal system and our country.
rafflaw,
It is possible since this is alleged to have occurred in May of 08 that the Defendant could have been 16. Therefore charge and sentenced as a dumb shit juvenile.
How can this 18 year old be sentenced as a juvenile? I hope the family gets a favorable result out of a civil action because this punk needs some incentive to act like a reasonable adult and not a member of the KKK.
JT,
Are you sure it’s not “All America City,” (yes I know, but I’ve lived in 3 and it is America and not American) the award given out by the National Civic League? The dates line up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_All-America_Cities
Well clearly when they say it’s an “all American city” they mean that there are no Hyphenated Americans.
Some interesting comments from those involved:
“Assistant Prosecutor Chip McConville said it sends a message that if this kind of behavior happens, it will be prosecuted.
Judge James Ronk said in court that what the defendant did was shameful to him and the community.
He told Cline he should treat people the way he wants to be treated.
Ronk wouldn’t comment on the sentence, but Robert said he thinks the message is clear.
“That Knox County or Mount Vernon doesn’t care about other ethnic groups in this neighborhood,“ he said.”
I would respond seriatim as follows:
Duh, Chip, why wouldn’t you prosecute it; Ah, yeah, shameful? Is that all it is?; Not really, Judge; You got it, Robert!
Buddha,
Spell check did not such a good yob.
AY,
For your own protection from the homies and the vatos, it’s “La Raza”. That’s not grammar correction, just good security.
What did Roger Miller sing about: Dang me, dang me they outta take a rope and hang me. Higgggggh from the Higggghest Tree Lordy lokk what they don’t to me.
Maybe the guy outta have a member of La Rasia take him on down to the border and let him look at life from both sides.
They do not kid. More people have died in defending the drug war than Iraq and Afghanistan combined.
These people make me sick.
Off Topic
Sharon Keller is having her day in Court. The district Court Judge moved it from Austin to San Antonio. Well at least she is going to her her day, unlike the Dead Defendant.